Dehydrator plug



March 9, 1954 s. F. HUNT ET AL DEHYDRATOR PLUG Filed Nov. 20, 1951 IN VE NTO RS SCOT//UNT BY .sm/vlv. m55/Pr W4 ATTORN EY Patented Mar. 9, 1954 DEHYDRATOR PLUG Scott F. Hunt, Meriden, and Stanley W. Gilbert,

Middletown, Conn., assignors to Niles-Bement- Pond Company, West Hartford, Conn., a corporation of New Jersey v Application November 20, 1951, Serial No. 257,286

15 Claims. l

This invention pertains to dehydrating devices for removing moisture from hermetically sealed chambers, and more particularly has reference to such devices in the form of dehydrator plugs for use in inhibiting corrosion from moisture in internal combustion engines while in storage or shipment.

Heretofore, dehydrator plugs for internal combustion engines have been made in either one of two prevailing types, viz., one in which the container for the desiccating material is permanently attached to the body of the plug during assembly of the device by the manufacturer; and the other in which the desiccant container is detachably secured to the body of the plug by means of a spring clip, wire bail, or the like.

The former type has the advantage of a permanent moisture-tight joint between the desiccant container and the body of the plug, and is thus less liable to leakage of moisture through said joint. On the other hand, this type has the disadvantage that the desiccant material can not be replaced when it is expended by absorption of moisture, and the whole plug must be discarded. The detachable type of plug has the advantage of being susceptible of disassembly in the eld, to permit refilling with fresh desiccant material, thus enabling the same plug to be continued in use with new desiccant material. On the other hand, this type of plug has the disadvantage of depending upon an impositive attachment of desiccant container to the body of the plug with the attendant liability to leakage of moisture through the joint between these parts and consequent shortening of the useful life of the desiccant material. Another disadvantage of the detachable type of plugs heretofore in use is that, during disassembly for refilling with desiccant, the container must be separated from the body of the plug and inverted to fill it with desiccant material, with resulting liability of spilling the desiccant.

The primary object of this invention is to provide a dehydrator plug which has the advantages of both the permanent and detachable types of plug, without the disadvantages of either type.

Another object is to provide a dehydrator plug of the detachable type which can be readily disassembled and refilled with fresh desiccant y material in the eld, by use of the fingers alone, without inverting the plug during the reiilling operation, and without liability to spillage of the desiccant material.

' Another object is to provide a dehydrator plug of the detachable type, wherein the desiccant container is permanently attached to the body of the plug by means of a moisture-proof sealing material which precludes any liability of moisture leakage through the joint between these parts.

With these and other objects in View which may be incident to our improvements, our invention consists of the combination and arrangement of elements hereinafter described and illustrated in the accompanying drawing, in which:

Fig. 1 is a longitudinal sectional View of a dehydrator plug constructed according to our invention, and v Fig. 2 is a top plan view of the plug shown in Fig. 1

Referring to the drawing in detail, the reference numeral I indicates the body of the plug which is made of moulded, phenolic, thermo-setting, plastic material which is impervious to the penetration of moisture. Body I is provided with a downwardly extending, threaded plug portion 2 for screwing into a similarly threaded opening of an hermetically sealed chamber from Whose interior the plug is designed to extract moisture, such as the cylinder or crank case, of an internal combustion engine. The upper part of body I is formed in the shape of a hollow, tubular sleeve 3, for receiving the lower end of a desiccant container comprising an open-ended glass tube 4 which holds the desiccant material 5. At the bottom of sleeve 3, the body I is formed with an annular shoulder 6 for the reception of an airperrneable, foraminous, sintered metal filter l, on which the lower end of glass tube i seats, and which forms an air-permeable bottom for the desiccant container fl. Below shoulder 6, plug portion 2 has a central cylindrical air passage 8, extending downwardly therethrough.

Exteriorly, body I is provided with a plurality or flat surfaces 9, giving it a polygonal shape for engagement with a wrench to facilitate disengagement from the opening in the wall of the chamber with which the desiccator plug is used.

At diametrically opposite points, tubular extension 3 is formed with flats I0 having upwardly inclined holes II formed therein to receive the hooked ends I2 of a spring clip I3 which extends upwardly over the top of glass tube li in the form of a wire bail which engages the upper face of a plastic plug Iii, as clearly shown in Figs. l and 2. Plug i4 is provided with an integral, upwardly flared, cylindrical stud i5 which terminates in a bead I6, adapted to engage a similar bear I'I on the lower end of a resilientsleeve I8,

igefiit moisture-tight joint between said tube and `6. A dehydrating device according to claim 5, wherein the cement is a slow-setting, organic resin.

7. A dehydrating device according to claim 5, wherein at least a portion of said desiccant material changes its color upon absorption of moisture and the remainder of said material does not change its color upon absorption of moisture.

8. A dehydrator device comprising: a body member of generally tubular form having an axial opening extending therethrough, said opening having an annular shoulder intermediate its ends forming a pocket on one side or" said shoulder and an inlet air passage at the other side, a desiccant container of open tubular shape having one end closed by a detachable, moisture-impermeable plug and the other end permanently engaged in said pocket above said shoulder, and a moisture permeable member extending entirely across the open end area of said tube and supported transversely in said opening and constituting a bottom support for the dessicant in said container.

9. A dehydrator device comprising: a body member of generally tubular form having an axial opening extending therethrough, said opening having an annular shoulder intermediate its ends forming a pocket on one side of said shoulder and an inlet air passage at the other side, a desiccant container of open tubular shape having one end permanently engaged in said pocket above said shoulder, and a moisture permeable member extending entirely across one end of said container and supported transversely in said opening and constituting a bottom support for the desiccant in said container, a moisture-impermeable, detachable plug for closing the other end of said container and resiliently yieldable means for retaining said plug in closed position on said container.

10. A dehydrator device according to claim 9, wherein said plug retaining means is pivotally connected to said body member and embraces the top of said plug when said plug is in engagement with said container.

11. A dehydrator device according to claim 9, wherein said desiccant container is permanently attached to said body member by an interposed lm of moisture-impermeable cement.

12. A dehydrator device comprising: a body member of generally tubular form having an axial opening extending therethrough, said opening having an annular shoulder intermediate its ends forming a pocket on one side of said shoulder and an inlet air passage at the other side, a desiccant container of open tubular shape having one end permanently engaged in said pocket, a moisture permeable member extending entirely across one end of said container and supported transversely in said opening and constituting a bottom support for desiccant in said container, a detachable plug for closing the other end of said container, a resilient gasket interposed between said plug and said container for air-tightly sealing said other end of said container, and resiliently yieldable retaining means connected to said plug and said body member to retain said plug in engagement with said container.

13. A dehydrator device according to claim 12, wherein said plug retaining means comprises a yieldable spring member having a transverse portion engaged with said plug and side leg portions pivotally connected to said body member to retain said plug in engagement with said container.

14. A dehydrator device according to claim l2, wherein said body member has an external flange and an external threaded portion at one side of said flange, a threaded sealing cup engaged with said threaded portion, and a sealing gasket disposed between said flange and said sealing cup.

15. A dehydrator device comprising: a body member of cylindrical tubular form having an axial opening extending therethrough, said opening having an annular shoulder spaced below its upper end, desiccant containing tube having a moisture-impermeable closure at one end and engaged near its other end with said body member above said shoulder, and a moisture permeable lter supported by said shoulder, engaging the abutting end of said tube, and extending across the entire open end area of said tube and also entirely across said axial opening, to constitute a bottom support for the desiccant.

SCOTT F. HUNT. STANLEY W. GILBERT.

References Cited in the le of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 222,801 Spencer Dec. 23, 1879 310,756 Walter Jan. 13, 1885 2,335,901 Ayers Dec. 7, 1943 2,407,023 Lockwood Sept. 3, 1946 2,511,726 Lockwood June 13, 1950 2,614,650 Chandler et al. Oct. 21, 1952 

